Almost there
A time to stop and reassess
The almost end of the year has a bit of bittersweet feeling to it. I’ve been quite melancholic to be honest, and it’s as if I’m in the middle of a bridge, standing still, before being able to arrive. Not really here nor there yet.
It’s already a busy period in itself, with a lot of gatherings, prepping for Christmas and work stuff, but I also have really high expectations to finish projects, to tie all the loose threads before the next thing. This is how all the ghosts of almost or could have been can haunt us forever.
I was frantically trying to get so much ready before the end of the year... but what I realized was: “I’m tired, I’m sad, I need to stop and reassess.” After I gave myself the permission to stop, life became lighter.
If you could pause life right now, what would you do?
I did some gouache paintings
I’ve been reading a book to my kid lately: “Butterfly Child” by Marc Majewsky It is visually poetic and delightfully profound. I didn’t even know about Gouachevember until I read Kelsey’s newsletter.
It inspired me to evolve an idea about childhood memories (mine and my kids’ too).
I also made some Tactile Cards
I’m going to be part of a Holiday Market at Slice Gallery for the first time this year and wanted to do something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: embossing!
I had been testing the Cricut for the embossing effect for some time here and there for months now. Never taking enough time to learn to use that software for more complex things.
I’m still confused by how to align things properly. It was a lot of testing, making so many mistakes but I’m glad for what I was able to make these 3 cards:
They are adaptations from the Tao Te Ching illustrations I did for my zine. I thought the diving one was such a good metaphor for jumping towards something new and was happy I had something more thematic for the market.
I also made a detail for the envelopes that will go with them and I’m quite happy of how they turned out :)
Some last bits
What a mesmerizing work from Gaia Alari and therapist Emily Price. The animation is so hypnotic, you can spend hours watching them loop.
I’ll be part of the Holiday Market at Slice Gallery. If you are in Vancouver, you can go there and support some awesome local artists :)
I hope you are well. If you can, take a moment to stop before taking the next step.